Occasionally insanity, real or feigned, has its political advantages —
largely because of its ancillary traits of unpredictability and an
aura of immunity from appeals to reason, sobriety, and
moderation.

I thought VDH's essay was going to be about the recent brouhaha
about the American Psychiatric Association's removing the "Goldwater
Rule", prohibiting its members from public speculation on the mental
problems of prominent non-patients.
(which
it didn't do).

But no. VDH says that loose-cannon behavior can be useful, when used
sparingly.

For a prime example of how the poorly conceived policy of Obamacare
interacts with the Trump administration's disregard for the rule of
law, look no further than the debate over the health law's subsidy
payments to health insurance companies.

Over the last several months, as Republicans have struggled with legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare, President Trump has repeatedly warned that the health care law is already failing. If Congress did nothing, he said last week, he would let it "implode." That may sound passive, but coming from Trump, it was an active threat to hasten the law's demise.

Bottom line: Trump should just cease the cost-sharing reduction
(CSR) subsidies for insurance companies, because Congress has
refused to appropriate money for them.

■ The other Obama-designed illegal bailout Trump threatens to
stop is analyzed by Phil Kerpen at the Federalist: Trump
Should End Obama’s Bailout of Congress’s Health Care. He reviews
the sordid history; there's no question that Trump can undo the
Obama skulduggery that saved Congresscritters from having to buy
health insurance on the exchanges with no taxpayer subsidies.

If Congress thinks Trump is in the wrong to end their sweetheart deal, they can always vote their taxpayer-funded employer contribution back into effect—and face the political consequences.

Again, Trump is using this as a bargaining chip. He shouldn't. Just
do it, Mr. President.

Who could blame the people who felt abandoned and ignored by the major parties for reaching in despair for a candidate who offered oversimplified answers to infinitely complex questions and managed to entertain them in the process? With hindsight, it is clear that we all but ensured the rise of Donald Trump.

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